Helped launch Showtime Networks first website. From there to NBC’s Internet division and ran NBC.com, launching some of the first TV to Web experiences. In 2003, helped launch InsiderPages which was acquired by CitySearch in 2006. Since then, helping clients big and small with this strange thing called “SEO”.

As some of you may already know this morning I was under the influence of Nitrous Oxide in a dentist chair. Before I headed off to oblivion I got into a discussion about local Web marketing with my dentist and his assistant. His assistant relayed the following story about a doctor she knows in San Diego (I may have lost something in the translation as when it comes to laughing gas I am a 60%er):

A teenage patient wrote a bad review of the doctor on Yelp and you know how teenagers can be. But because the teenager had a lot of friends on Yelp and wrote a lot of reviews, her review went to the top and stayed there. And the other good reviews disappeared. Yelp called him to ask if he wanted to advertise and he said only if they can get rid of the bad review. They said they couldn’t do that.

At InsiderPages we were always asked the same question. Bottom line is if you have the traffic and the brand you figure it out. I am sure there are plenty of businesses willing to buy more traffic from Yelp, conflict of interest and all.

I laugh because it hurts. One bad review from a person that didn’t even do business with one of my customers has been stuck on Yelp for MONTHS and it has had a strikingly negative impact on their business. We’ve been through everything on the planet to try to get the review removed and get more reviews, it is just a painful process that is taking forever.

All they REALLY need to do is fix their algorithm, that is the heart of most every Yelp complaint ever made. It clearly favors Yelp Elite too much.

When I think of Yelp, the words ‘digital extortion’ comes to mind when thinking about their business model. They drag businesses into a fight they didn’t asked for and allow competitors to anonymously slander just about anyone they want.

I often ask myself, why would someone spend the time and type in a review? Unless they are pissed off right? If a business met my expectations, why would go through all the hassle to write something obvious, unless I was motivated anything but happy.

This leads to another question, how real are the positive reviews? I believe over 40% are fake.